Trade for Washington: The Redskins botched this whole McNabb situation. They got him for a 2^nd and a 4^th last year, started him with moderate success for a few weeks, benched him randomly for Rex Grossman, gave him a ridiculous contract extension, then benched him again for Rex Grossman, this time permanently, angering him to the point where they had to trade him or release him. Credit them for getting something for him, rather than having to outright release him, but blame them for botching this whole situation. McNabb isn’t great, but he’s better than anyone else they had at quarterback. I’m going to average those two things out and give them a C.

Grade: C

Trade for Minnesota: Washington messing up the McNabb situation gave Minnesota a legitimate stopgap starting quarterback for at least a year. Andy Reid made McNabb look better than he was in Philadelphia, but I think he can still be a competent starter in the NFL. The Vikings have loads of other problems so I think they’re still the worst team in their division (behind Green Bay, Chicago, and Detroit), but Christian Ponder is going to benefit from a year on the bench behind a veteran. Rookie quarterbacks normally do. McNabb is coming cheap for them, costing them up to 2 late round picks, and probably about 6 million over a year after his restructured contract (no official word on what he’ll be paid next year, but the Vikings said they weren’t going to accept this unless he took 6 million or less for next year).

Grade: A